Today there will be people who will attend churches and will nod their heads and even at times let slip a hearty amen to something the preacher says. But some of them may not realize that when they depart the atmosphere of His presence among the saints, they do little to apply what they just heard.

So we can deduce that a first step to experiencing the fullness of God requires being born again followers of Jesus Christ. But, is that the end of the process and does it bring us into a full-orbed experience of God?

I want to focus on a less recognized type of confession today. It involves when God has operated in someones life and they share it with another. It is this type of confession referred to in Romans regarding how salvation comes when it says:

Own it! Now there’s a phrase. I hear it fairly often, and have used it many times as well. I am sure the vocabulary to convey that very sentiment will soon change if it hasn’t already. Each generation enjoys taking a phrase from a previous generation and changing it to suit their own. What that might be now I am unaware, but I would like to think we all can wrap our minds around the idea of what it means to own something.

I believe there are some people caught up in end time ideology not because they wish to be prepared right now and always, but because they want to know when they need to start being ready. They wish to live as they please right now and only begin to get things in order when they feel the time is close at hand. That is not the right motivation for looking into end time Scriptures. A desire to be a ready as one can be at all times and to be equipped to witness to others is a good motivation for looking into end times passages.

I believe in 2017 the church is going to experience a shift. I believe there is going to be a great prophetic release this year on the church for the purpose of witnessing for Jesus. I believe it will involve an evangelistic mantle being passed. Not a passing from a great evangelist to a single person, but a release of an anointing from a prominent God called evangelist that will fall on many.

Question – are you being faithful and believing God even when things are not going your way and disappointment is trying to worm its way into your life. Jeremiah 1:12 says God watches over his word to perform it – what word was God watching over to perform in their case?

I am convinced this morning that the Holy Spirit has a very specific intentional purpose to accomplish in your life in these few minutes that we have together. I say that because I want you to be intentionally listening to the Holy Spirit and be open to what he wants to accomplish in you.

The old saying, “We are all children of God.” May have a sentimental ring to it, but it is far from the truth.

Notice how in John’s gospel becoming a child of God by being born of God is not talking about a physical birth. That is what is meant by the language, “Not of blood.” It was not something anyone can do in their own strength and power. That is what is meant by the language, “Nor of the flesh.” It was not something someone can just will to do on their own. That is what is meant by the language, “Nor of the will of man.”